The Not So Lone Wolf
by ObsidianFlames387
Summary: Since the day his first pack died, Shadowfoot has always felt alone, although he was adopted by another pack, he always felt out of place. To try and cope he moved far to the north and try to live alone, than he met Palepaw and his entire life changed...
1. Chapter 1: The Sacred Place

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the World of Darkness terminology. I do however own most the characters. The only ones I don't own are owned by my rp buddies.

Text meaning: **BOLD = **First Tongue/ _Italics = thoughts _/ Underlined = emphasis

* * *

Chapter 1: The Sacred Place

A wolf set off silently amongst the trees and snow. He moved with a silence that was downright spooky, even in the snow he left only the faintest of tracks, he neither howled nor growled, his breathing quite relaxed, not a sound was made as he made his way through the woods. Not a single beast or creature heard him as he made his way silently up the hill to a place few people knew of.

The wolf was black, straight black. Not dark brown or dark grey, but black. His body seems rather thin for a wolf but all it did was conceal the powerful muscles he really had. His eye were odd for a wolf as they seemed to be almost human in color, a slight grey-blue and they seem to look as if he held the weight of the world in them.

He continued his silent trek up the hill. As he crest the hill and made to turn towards a valley that was almost impossible to see from his vantage point, he stopped and turned his head back, straining his senses to their fullest to check out the surrounding area. He paused and felt a silent growl rise up as he heard something stalking towards him.

He stopped his growl and glared at the creature that appeared before him. Another wolf stalked up behind him, trying but failing to keep herself silent. Most would find this wolf to be downright beautiful and even the he-wolf found himself thinking that she had a striking look about her. She was completely white and had the illusion of shimmering silver pass across her fur. Her eyes were also odd for a wolf, as they appeared to be pale grey human eyes. She was thin as though she was underfed, although, she had come a long way since the incident. She stalked silently up next to him and looked deeply into his eyes.

The he-wolf stiffened and looked poised to strike. His growl returned, as he felt his anger rise in his throat. He paused to calm himself, than the he-wolf glared at the she-wolf. **"Why do you stalk me?"** the black wolf growled in an ancient tongue. His anger was almost palpable, he really wasn't mad at her, but he was going to his place damnit. He shook his head to get rid of the anger and looked back her.

She looked at him downcast **"I'm sorry. I don't want to be lone wolf."** He caught her meaning, the ancient language is hard to get across sometimes. He didn't want to be followed and she didn't want to be alone, but sometimes the words weren't in the language. It was impossible to speak English in the "Urhan" (wolf) form. He thought it over; she never wanted to be far from him, ever. With what happened to her he didn't really blame her, but damn could he get more than 5 minutes to himself.

He expelled his breath in the wolf equivalent of a sighed and let his anger pass. No, she couldn't be alone, after the incident he had only barely saved her from herself and those THINGS. He thought it over, he could really wait, but the snow was new and he really wanted to enjoy it. He came to a decision, **"If you can stalk me further, I'll allow you to stalk. Howl to no other of this place. It is important to me."**

She nodded and looked downcast, she didn't want to disturb what he was going to do, but she doesn't want to be alone. She didn't know if she could ever be alone, after the things she was put through. She still had the scars. Not the physical ones, those disappear with her inhuman healing. No the ones only she can be with, the thoughts that invaded her in every moment she was alone. She nodded her head to him and followed her savior as he rounded down the valley.

After 10 or so minutes of hiking something hit her. It was small at first, but she felt a probing in the back of her head telling her she wasn't allowed there. She continued to follow the he-wolf; he seemed completely unfazed as he silently stalked ahead. It wasn't bad; than a second wave of the feeling hit her pretty strong, she nearly staggered as a small headache from the feeling erupted inside her. The he-wolf still was unfazed as he moved ahead. She slowly fell behind him until finally a third wave, more powerful than the other two combined, slammed into her. The feeling felt almost like a burning fire inside her; she felt the want, no, the need to leave. She was about to turn and bolt when she saw the he-wolf staring at her.

"**Not much further,"** the he-wolf growled in the old tongue, **"The feeling will leave shortly."**

She plowed through, if he could take whatever this was, so could she, but every time she looked he seemed like he didn't even know of the feeling. In fact, she thought he might not know at all, except he told her it would be relieved soon. _'Maybe he is just use to it,' _she thought to herself. She nearly crawled another 20 yards, than, in an instant it was gone, as though it wasn't even there at all. Another 10 yards put the two wolves in a clearing.

There, the he-wolf changed and stood up on two legs, his human form was not much different from his wolf form; he wore a black button up dress shirt with black slacks, black socks and black steel-toed boots. He had a knee-length black jacket and some matching black gloves, his eyes the same blue-grey as his wolf form, while his hair was black. He had a thin, but well toned body, he was a tan that might have been some vague Indian blood, or he spent too much time in the sun. He looked at her and smiled a weary smile. He picked up some snow and threw it at her.

She shook off the white dusting, and changed herself to her own Hishu (human) form. Her silver blond hair flowed down to her shoulder blades, her sad grey eyes stood out against her almost ghost like complexion. Although she wore a similar black coat to his, she was dressed in just blue jeans and a pale red sweater; her boots and gloves a light brown color. She picked up some snow and they had a little snow fight to help break the mood.

"What was that feeling, and why did you seem unfazed by it," she whispered eventually, her back leaning against one of the many trees in the small enclosure.

He just looked at her for a minute considering her question closely; she would need to know if she tried to follow him again. It really wasn't that he was use to it, it just didn't trigger against him. After a minute he said, "You aren't allowed to be here, Palepaw," he said each word slowly, like each one had a deeper meaning behind it. "The reason I am unaffected by it is because I set forth a rite to compel anyone or anything, from entering this clearing. It's the same on the other side, though obviously the trees are allowed to be here. In fact, I had to get their permission to create the ward in the first place. The only person that has access to this part of the woods is me." He looked deeply at the massive tree that was dominating the enclosure.

Palepaw took a moment to look around, the clearing was small maybe only 20 yards in diameter, and in the middle was a massive tree. However, the area appeared to be well kept. A small chest lay next to the tree and she eyed it closely, but didn't move for fear arousing the other wolfs anger. "What is this place, Shadowfoot?"

"A place more important to me than anywhere else. A place that I risk pissing off the other packs in the area just to have it," Shadowfoot replied cryptically, "It is a place for me to be alone and think, a place where I am safe to relax and let my defenses drop. This is my place." All this was said in almost a loving way, after he finished he instantly shifted into his wolf form and start rolling around and playing in the snow.

She couldn't help it, she laughed. He was acting like a little cub who just discovered their first snow. She never saw him like this; he was always serious, always thinking or watching for something to happen. He never relaxed and just let himself be him. It was endearing to her; she switched forms and joined him in playing the snow.

After awhile they shifted back and laid in the snow in silence. After a while Shadowfoot broke the silence, "Most hunters have a place like this, like an area where they can let go the troubles of the world and just be. This is mine, and you must not let anyone know this place, not even the rest of my pack when you finally meet them. You have access here and even that is limited to only when I am also here. The ward would not of let you through otherwise." He looked at her seriously. He was stuck with her, whether he liked or not, not that he didn't like her, he truly loved her like he loved his pack mates. But with the incident, Shadowfoot knew that Palepaw only had him in the world. He was the only one to raise a hand to save her from those things, the only person who seem to genuinely care for her. Right now he was her entire world and he had to accept that. No matter how much he wanted to be alone.

She stared at her savior as her eyes filled with hope. He trusted her with this massive secret of his. A secret so big that he has even warded the area from others, and kept it from even his pack. No one had trusted her before the incident and not a single person did afterward. How could they? After all, who could trust someone who was supposed to become the incarnation of deception itself. In fact, she used that very power to try and get out of the incident that tied her to that power in the first place. And even that, she only barely got out. If it hadn't been for her savior, Shadowfoot, she most certainly would have died.

At that moment Palepaw swore upon her soul that no matter what, she would do whatever she could to help Shadowfoot in anything that ever arose to challenge him. If he went into the very depths of hell, than she would be there right by his side. After all, it was he who pulled her out of hell. She smiled and looked seriously at her companion and said, "I promise Shadowfoot. I swear upon pain of death and dishonor that I shall forever protect your secret and your sacred place." He looked at her and smiled.

His face visibly relaxed and he smiled back at her, "Well, let's lay down some ground rules while we're here. When we're here we shall not speak of any problem or crisis that is happening. This is a place of relaxation; it is where I, and now you, can come to gather up thoughts and ideas. But mostly it is a place to be safe and relax. Now I must introduce you to The Great One," Shadowfoot told her, as he gestured to the enormous tree, "We will have to step across the gauntlet to meet her. Mind your manners, although The Great One is kind, she is an ancient spirit and has had many millennia to gather allies." He then stood and gazed just as he was getting prepped to cross the threshold into shadow he felt an intense pain suddenly shot across his eye.

"Damnit," He yelled as he collapsed to his knees clutching his right eye. Palepaw immediately rushed to his side, trying to see what she could do to help. She than saw his eye through his fingers, it had shifted from its normal blue-grey, to a deep almost shadowed purple. The sclera was a deep blood red, as though he had popped a blood vessel. She felt a wash of supernatural energy rush from his hands to his eye, the color slowly changed back to normal. The red withdrew towards the iris and as it reached the iris, the purple started to drain back to it's blue-grey. The only way for her to describe what she saw would be to say that it was almost like the center of the eye was sucking the color into it. He sighed and gather to climbed unsteadily to his feet, Palepaw there to keep him from falling.

"Damn Azlu," he said to himself more than to her, "and fuck Steelskin, I wouldn't be surprised if he planned on this affecting me this way." He shook his head and tried to force the remaining pain away. Palepaw looked at him oddly, but said nothing. Either he would tell her about it or not, either way he was fine now.

"Sorry about that. Now let's go," Shadowfoot said. Although he looked pale, she thought better than to suggest doing it later. If he thought that this was a safe place, than he wasn't going to stop just because his eye acted up. She nodded and together they crossed the Gauntlet to the shadow world.

* * *

A/N Time:

Yay! Finally got my first chapter of my first fanfic done. Ok, first thing first. Yes they are werewolves. Most of everything that will in this story will be werewolves, though some of the minor characters I have planned will be other supernal creatures. Now these are World of Darkness werewolves, they have multiple forms but in this chapter they either needed human or wolf. If you like review, if you don't like, well screw you I write for my enjoyment not yours. This will be rated M so yes there will be sexual innuendo as well as brutal graphic detail. Take that into consideration when you review, for the first few chapters it will be light but as I get deeper it will get darker. It's called World of Darkness for a reason you know. My rp buddies and i use first tongue in a a kind of wolf like english, some words like follow, are replace with stalk, were as words like alone or lonely don't even have a variation and must have whole terms like 'Lone Wolf' to describe them.

On to follow up disclaimer, I only own the characters Shadowfoot, Palepaw, and Windwatcher, as well as most of the other characters. Steelskin, Righteous Fury, and Bandit-who-walk-on-still-moon-play-good-song-on-rainy-day (yeah I know it's a ridiculous name but he demanded I use the full name in the disclaimer, he will be known as Bandit for the most part) are owned by my werewolf pack/rp buddies. Please enjoy and I will try to update at least once a week. : )


	2. Chapter 2: The Great One

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the World of Darkness terminology, setting or anything that can be pulled from this story and related to nWoD. I do however own most the characters. The only ones I don't own are owned by my rp buddies. Setting is New World of Darkness not old.

Text meaning: **BOLD = **First Tongue/ _Italics = thoughts _/ Underlined = emphasis

* * *

Chapter 2: The Great One

The two sidestepped through the Gauntlet with little trouble, as there was little here to impede their way through. As it stood, they really only needed a locus to move through it any better. Finally, as they crossed over, Palepaw turned to gauge their surroundings.

First, she felt an odd warmth, normally the Shadow World has the same season as the real world, but for some reason it felt like spring here, there wasn't even snow here! Next she noticed the tree spirits, in the dark and twisted version of the real worlds, the tree spirits looked mostly like human trees, incredibly tall humans, but humans nonetheless. They seemed surprised by her presence, and the longer she looked the more their expressions showed something that was all too familiar. Disdain and Disgust.

In fact it seemed all the spirits shared the same similar look, all except one, a huge grandmother looking tree that seem to grin down at her and Shadowfoot, or maybe just Shadowfoot. _"This must be The Great One,"_ she thought. It was pretty obvious, the tree seem to radiate power and wisdom. She has a weathered and aged face, much like someone might imagine when thinking of their grandmother. She seems to give of an aura of calm and Palepaw felt herself relax, she looked at her companion to see what he was doing.

Shadowfoot upon finishing the shift immediately had removed his heavy jacket (having been use to the shift and not liking how it was so warm), he then removed his button up shirt to reveal, yet another, black T-shirt beneath it. Upon his skin stood out the silver tattoos that marked his renown. On his arms, from the knuckles just below his elbowed, showed up his Purity tattoo, which was symbolized by what appeared to be ocean waves. Around his eyes, his tattoos represented by what looked like raccoon markings, those, she figured, represented Cunning. She also saw a shine on his back, but Palepaw had no idea what renown was on his back, and he didn't talk about it. He looked at her and sighed.

Shadowfoot looked about the clearing and felt himself get dishearten, he saw the looks and realized he probably could have planned this better. Apparently, Palepaw's reputation preceded her, and unfortunately, it wasn't a good one. He steeled himself and glared around at them all, they had seen what or heard what he could do and he wouldn't let them ruin it, he turn back to The Great One. The Great One had heard from him about her when he was trying to figure out what he needed to do. To his surprise, she merely looks at Palepaw with sad eyes before turning back to him.

In one quick movement, Shadowfoot bowed low before the great tree eyes on the ground before he greeted the ancient spirit. "Hello oh great," he makes a sound that is similar to wind passing thru leaves, "it is great to see you again."

The spirit smiled down at him as he said his greeting. Shadowfoot was a very respectful wolf, sometimes brash, he was never quick to inflict damage in the spirit realm unless he had no choice, or in a deep rage. She suspected he probably could have high honor, except that he could do what needed to be done, putting aside his morals to do it. She respected him, but didn't agree with such a disregard to sacrifice your own morals. Nonetheless, he had earned her trust and admiration many times over. The girl's reputation was bad, but for him, the great tree spirit would wait for his explanation. She decided to push it along though; the young wolf had a tendency to dodge around subjects he'd rather pass up. She reached down with a gnarled hand shaped branch and petted his hair, "It is good to see you, little Shadowfoot. I'm glad to have been graced by you and your companion's presence. What brings you two here," she smiled in satisfaction as he winced back from her words.

Shadowfoot shook his head and looked over at Palepaw. He could see that she was scared and she had grabbed hold onto his arm during the greeting. She looked at him and his heart went out to her, she never asked for what happened, yet he had to look strong, at least for her. He smiled down at her and stood up straighter, "I have allowed my companion, Palepaw, to have access to this zone as long as I am here. I wish to present her before you for your approval." He spoke evenly, but with a confidence as if he knew the answer already, even though he really had no idea how it was going to turn out.

Palepaw was about to the point to say that it was ok and that she really didn't have to have a sacred place, than she heard something she dreaded to hear, out from the group of tree spirits came voice, it said in a harsh and arrogant tone, "You do not have approval to bring that THING here. In fact you should be banished on the spot." She sank to her knees and nearly cried as the thing voiced its hate for her aloud.

Shadowfoot turned around and nearly stormed over to the poor pathetic spirit that had the gall to even think to say that. He felt his rage starting to get near overwhelming and just as he was about to do something he would certainly have regretted he felt a hand on his shoulder and turn to stare at The Great One. Her eyes showed him all he needed to know he reflexively took a deep breath and calmed himself visibly. He then turned back to the rash spirit and said in a detached voice without remorse, "I did not ask you permission, and I think you should not speak of my friend that way if you don't want something bad to happen." He was staring at the tree coldly and watched as it seems to visibly flinch under his gaze.

The tree recovered quickly and countered with, "We allow you here, and if you try to bring that thing with you, we can just as easily force you to leave."

"I have serious doubts," Shadowfoot said, unfazed, "since it wasn't your permission I was asking but The Great One's seeing as she has the say and not you. And if I remember correctly, what she says go, not you." Shadowfoot turned away from the spirit as if that was the end of the matter.

Apparently the wayward spirit wasn't done, "You can't just-, "he was cut off by a long crack across his wooden face.

"That is enough!" The Great One exclaimed, as she slapped him with a long heavy branch. "I have allowed him permission to be here, and he has earned my trust 4 or 5 times over. I already had a forewarning about the possibility of her coming. He is right, by the way, I do have the final say."

The Great One than turned to Shadowfoot, "Do you trust her?" He nodded, "Will you allow her access past the wards?" Again he nods, "Do you have any reason to believe she will betray you?"

He pauses and looks at her, Palepaw seemed distant, and she watched him with fear._ "Would he say yes," _she thinks, _"He has no reason not too, and never has. I give him nothing for to gain any trust, and all I do is follow him around like a lost chick. I should just go, all I am is trouble …"_ as her thoughts fall into darker and darker moods, Shadowfoot speaks up, causing a complete stop in all thoughts.

"I trust her, more than any other being, maybe even my pack. When she came to me, she had put her very life and soul on the line. Not for me to save her, but to stop the darkness and corruption that was spreading. I have no doubt about her loyalty to me, not that I'm being arrogant, but she would die before she would turn on me. I would put my life in her hands, knowing that I would be safe." Shadowfoot says this with little emotion. He watches Palepaw look at him like he was crazy, maybe he was, but all he said was true. He might have tried to kill her at first, but she proved she had good intentions. He would die before he let more harm come to the pale wolf, and he would show her that at least one person in this world trusted him.

"That's all I need to know from you Shadowfoot," The Great One replied with a smile. She turned towards Palepaw, "I'll accept your presence if you submit to one thing, I must see your memories in order to allow you to be here to see if you are indeed worthy of this trust."

Palepaw stiffened up and looked ready to faint, she broke down and stated to cry, " No … no I.. I… I can't… it's just … no." She started to sob uncontrollably, Shadowfoot takes her in a comforting hug and she cries into him, her grief and anguish not lost on him. Not even he had seen her memories, and she knew that he knew the ritual to see them. She cried, as she did this The Great One frowned.

"_Such a strong reaction," _The Great One mused, _"Is her history that dark. Then again, if what Shadowfoot has told me is true, it makes since."_ She was starting to regret her statement, but she had to know. It was her obligation to keep the forest safe, and she did most of that through Shadowfoot, but this is a chance she shouldn't take. Shadowfoot she trusted, but this was a new factor and she had to root lightly, or everything could fall apart. She resolved to stand behind her decision. "She must do it, or she is not welcome here."

Shadowfoot was at a loss, he knew vaguely about her past and none of it was good, from the tortures of her first change to her school life to now, she was a mess. She was literally barely hanging on, if not for him, she'd probably be in a ward if she wasn't dead… or worse. Then it hit him, "How about some of my memories about my trust of her to help , would that suffice the deal?"

"No, it has to be hers." His face dropped, and Palepaw shook in his arms, he looked down at her and sighed, it was her choice, and he would not make her, The Great One watched over the two with an expressionless face. Whatever its thoughts were, Shadowfoot couldn't read them. Finally he heard Palepaw speak, and what was said was both heartwarming and heartbreaking to him.

"I'll ... do it." She said so very quietly. "I'll do it for Shadowfoot. I don't want to, but I can't be without him. If this will allow me here, than I will do it." She says all this while shaking, but with a voice of determination. Her tears still fell, but her eyes held the courage she needed. She was done running from her past, she might not be able to face it, but maybe she could share it. "But you should take Shadowfoot's memories with mine, it'll help fill in a few blanks that will appear."

The Great One nodded, "Very well, let us get this underway. I have a feeling this will take awhile." She motion for the two to come forward, as the two came forward, the elder tree spirit carve a wound into her own arm, and it bled with thick green essence. As she did this, she made symbols and marks in the ground with other limb-like branches. The great spirit than precedes to fill the symbols with the thick essence, "Please add both of your blood to the streams of essence, and then, please stand here in this circle, you'll have to hold each other if the memories are to mix properly."

Shadowfoot fingered the fetish in his pocket, than thought better of it; that would cause more than just a small amount of blood loss. He reached down to his boot and pulled a combat knife concealed there. He than sliced across his hand and allowed his blood to drip down into the little streamlet of essence. He passed the blade over to Palepaw who copied the action. Together, they moved to the indicated circle and Shadowfoot, upon their entrance into the circle, immediately wrapped his hands around Palepaw and pulled her into his chest.

"I'll probably see your memories as well as you seeing mine," He said pensively, "I promise that, even after we're done here, I'll protect you no matter what I see. You are one of the few friends I have and I won't let anymore harm than has already happened come to you."

After hearing his promise, she started to shake and cry into his clothes again, "I believe you, I really do," she says this through tears of both sadness and joy; sadness in that she had suffered so much till now, joy that she had someone who actually might care for her, that she wasn't alone anymore. "I'm going to hold you those words."

The Great one considered the two for a moment, whatever she was looking for not one spirit could say, but after a moment she nodded and said, "Let's begin." After that she exerted her numina powers and the energy wrapped the two, and intertwined the memories of the young werewolves.

When reality returned to the three they were all looking out of Shadowfoot's eyes as he opened them inside the New England Supernal Hospital…

* * *

A/N: First off sorry for the late entry, just been trying to get college and work stuff settled. That being said chapter 2 is officially done woot! ^('-')^ Upon writing this chapter i started to find my heart being tugged my character Palepaw, she's going to be a sweet a loving girl, and I'm about to be so very mean to her, and it makes me sad. :,( Lucky Shadowfoot is going to be their for her. ;P OK a quick explanation, ancient tree spirits have a special essence that have healing elements to it (as well as other things) if a werewolf gets this essence you can use it to heal up one point of aggravated damage per essence. That being said, it's not easy to obtain (Personal House Rules btw, made by my st). The numina my tree spirit has is a mind reader kind, im using to read memories, but I wanted to tell it from both Shadowfoot and Palepaw's point of view, and to kind of get how the two met, what happened in Palepaw's past, and why the two ended up closer than most werewolves (even packs) get. I also came up with the idea during a Mage game I ran for a Supernatural hospital, that was completely neutral and impartial to all beings, Pure and Forsaken are welcome, Banishers and Awakened, Sabbat and Camarilla. It is an impartial ground made to help those who get sick or suffer tremendous damage heal and rest, it is a safe haven of sorts. Violence is untolerated and it is taken care of with instant death. Any class that heals, hypnotizes, or eases suffering are welcome to work and they also have many different things run the hospital. (more detail and possible link to come).

Follow up disclaimer: I don't anything associated with nWoD. Period. Characters are mine and my friends and certain little spells and rituals are mine.

That's it I think. Next chapter is called Thanks for the Memories and will deal with Shadowfoot meeting Palepaw. Palepaw's memories start up on Chapter 4, than a blend of memories in Chapter 5. Wow I'm quite long winded. Till later XD


	3. Chapter 3: Thanks For the Memories

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the World of Darkness terminology, setting or anything that can be pulled from this story and related to nWoD. I do however own most the characters. The only ones I don't own are owned by my rp buddies. Setting is New World of Darkness not old.

Text meaning: **BOLD = **First Tongue/ _Italics = _Memory world, thoughts/ Underlined = emphasis/

* * *

Chapter 3: Thanks for the Memories

Shadowfoot groaned as he made to sit up in the hospital, pained lanced through his left arm and aches crept up his back. He gritted his teeth and finished making it up to a sitting position and pulled himself back on to the pillows. He took a deep breath and pushed the discomfort from his mind. After the discomfort left he open up his eyes and ears, his nose taking in the scents of the New England Supernal Hospital.

The smell of the sterilized hospital was almost overwhelming, it almost covered the fact that other vampires, werewolves, and other creatures were all over the hospital. He tried to ignore that fact, he heard about this place and it was bad to cause trouble here. The people who ran the hospital preferred to keep their sanctuary safe for everyone, and people who cause trouble tend to find themselves worse off than when they arrived; normally dead.

The beeping of a heart monitor, told him more than he needed or wanted to know. He was, or had been at one point, in critical condition. Images blotted his head of a fight between him and a pack, some little girl being held by the other pack, him trying to get the girl to safety, and then when he thought he was safe, he ended up in a fight. He shook his head free of the thoughts, if he had indeed fought a pack of werewolves, he was lucky to be alive.

He examined the area he was being kept in, it was pretty much you're typical hospital recovery room: uncomfortable bed, annoying heart monitor, IV drip that led to a stinging needle stuck into his vein, and a old TV that badly needed to be replaced; pretty much just a normal hospital... full of monster and undead things. As far as Shadowfoot knew, they really didn't use to much mortal medicine, instead preferring healing rituals and spells.

Pain lances through his right eye. With his essence spent, he has no choice but to allow his vision to shift from seeing in the normal world to seeing into the shadow world. As he was forced to watch the image play across his eye, he saw that around him spirits of pain and suffering floated around as well as spirits of ease and comfort. Near him sat a spirit that didn't quite belong, but as soon as he started to concentrate on it, it fled from his sight.

He closed his eye and covered it with his hand to help block out the vision, as he did this a young woman walked into the room, she was dressed in black scrubs and had a small red and white ferret relaxing on her shoulders. She seemed young, no older than 18, her face seem to be devoid of emotion and her brown hair just seem to be barely taken care of. Her eyes were a light brown but they seem to be dead, or she was extremely skilled in hiding her emotions.

"Oh good, your up." She said emotionlessly, she seemed like some freaky robot to him but he just nodded to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I picked a fight with a freight train and lost. I don't suppose you have some essence or a bandage to wrap my eye up." Shadowfoot said with a dull sense of humor. He just couldn't bring himself to do much and he ached from pain.

The nurse nodded to him and whispered something to the ferret. The ferret, to Shadowfoot's surprise, nodded, climbed down and ran off. The nurse turned backed to him, "Do you feel any discomfort or pain, has the wounds on your arm been bleeding, are you having any trouble breathing?" She asked all of this methodically as she made check marks down a list on her chart.

"Slow down a bit with the questions," said Shadowfoot, amused with the nurse. He checked his arm and found laceration but no bleeding, curious, he shouldn't even have scars thanks to his supernatural healing. "I have some cuts on my arm but no bleeding… I have some passing pains in my chest and back, but I don't seem to have a problem breathing."

She nodded at this and made some marks, "My name is Nurse Lyndis; I have been your healer and have been posted to watch over you while you went through the tougher part of your healing. You're lucky; I found you passed out over some girl while I was on my way home from work. I got you here pretty quick seeing that I have some contacts with the Mastigos mages here and got you here by teleportation quite quickly …" she continues on, mechanically and emotionlessly.

He listened without listening, nodding at appropriate times, but not really absorbing what she was saying, he was still trying to go over what happened. Whoever it was, it had to be a young pack. No sane wolf, even in great number, goes against a werewolf when he has someone or something under his protection. Things tend to come back to haunt them. He would have to think about that…

"… and are you even listening?" Lyndis asked, still pretty close to emotionless but with a slight edge of annoyance at him. "I have a favor I need of you, and since I saved your life, I think you owe me one."

Shadowfoot did a double take. "Wha? I thought you were supposed to help people?"

"When you're here, yes." The emotionless nurse explained as if to a child, "However all the other stuff I did to get you here is extra. I went well above the call to make sure you were ok so I think you should pay me back."

Shadowfoot's jaw dropped, she was implying that simply saving a dying person required payment, sure she did save him when he was on the brink, but he would have done it for anyone (well maybe not everyone) in a heartbeat. So instead of arguing with the wayward mage, he changed the subject.

"Why do I have lacerations on my arm, I mean, my super healing should of fixed that?" Shadowfoot said while indicating to the rather messed up arm.

"There was some kind of poison all up and down any wound you had, although, your arm had the worst of it. Apparently your arm was coated in some kind of poison solution that prevented your arm from healing," Shadowfoot winced, "and it kept your wounds open and bleeding."

There was only one poison that he knew of that would prevent werewolf healing, and almost as if on cue, that weird ferret ran into the room carrying a bundle on its back, the young mage turned back and pulled off the small familiar's burden. His eye twitched in pain and he gritted his teeth against it, broken bones and gunshot wounds he could ignore, however, this damn eye was always making itself known when he didn't have the essence to keep it under control.

"Move your hand so I can bandage you up properly," the female mage asked in her usual tone. He move his hand, his eye opening now that the pressure was gone, and the magical nurse flinched a little before shrugging and applying the bandage. "Is that something you got from this fight, it looks … quite odd."

"No I got this a while ago." Shadowfoot replied quietly.

The Nurse shrugged again before she finished wrapping his eye, whatever her thoughts were, it was beyond him to guess. As soon as his eye was wrapped to her preference, she pulled her hands back and then looks at him with an odd gaze, her irises changing to the same purple hue that his odd eye was, though without the red in the white part. She stares at his eye for a moment before it shifts back to normal.

"Hmm your eye seems to give off an unusual amount of spirit magic, or something. It's quite odd, I can't really tell you much other than it allows you to read something that deals with spirits or the spirit world." Nurse Lyndis lists off with a slight curious tone, "It's the first I have even heard of something like this. I should really document this."

She pulls out an ancient book, opens it to a blank page, and waves her hand over the book. A diagram suddenly appeared on the page, symbols that were unreadable to Shadowfoot appear on the page, and a picture similar to him appears; circles around the eye show up next along with a line leading to more unreadable symbols.

"Okay, so what exactly does your eye…" The voice becomes distant as the memory fades to black.

~~~~~TNSLW~~~~~

"_Ugh," Shadowfoot thought in the mush of the mind meld the three beings were sharing. This other two presences in the meld seem to "look" around at him with odd "expressions" across their "faces". Shadowfoot's mind creates an area for the three presences, just a blank gray room. Light appears but has no point of origin, and suddenly all three are sitting in the room._

_The two wolves have their normal form; however, The Great One looks human. She appears as an elderly woman with bark colored skin, other than that her appearance just seems like an echo of her spirit from. She looks at it amused, and shifts her thoughts back towards what Shadowfoot is doing._

_Shadowfoot expels his breathe lightly as he looks at everything around him satisfied with the simple room he takes time to collect himself. He almost let the secret of his eye out, he looked at the two and both people still looked at him curiously._

"_Sorry," he finally said to them after a few more moments, "I don't like people knowing what happened with my eye, all you would get for the next three hours was her bugging me for info until I almost berserk out at her, than she managing to guilt me into it. Lyndis can be, ah, forceful in getting her way. I'm not happy about this thing so I think I'll skip ahead a bit. Eventually I might share what this is, eventually, maybe later in this memory tour we have going on, but right now I really don't want to talk about it."_

_The Great One looked at him curiously for a few minutes before nodding to him; whatever made him comfortable, since his memories at this moment isn't really important to what she wanted to know. _

_Palepaw on the other hand looked at Shadowfoot with concern, "What was so bad with his eye," she thought, "Why doesn't anyone know about it, but him, this Lyndis girl, and his pack mate who invoked the ritual?" She kept these things to herself though, and nodded for him to continue._

_Shadowfoot nodded back to them, "Okay, let's see…" Shadowfoot says, as he racks his memories for a good place to pick up at, "ah, here's a good place to start." He states eventually, the room the three minds share fades and the memories start up again…_

~~~~~TNSLW~~~~~

Shadowfoot raised his arm to view it, he had just watched that crazy nurse heal his hand with no tools at all, and she did it damn near instantly. He was impressed by the spellcaster's ability though he was far from wanting to admit that. According to her, and the resident werewolf doctor, the poison used to coat the weapon of his enemies was from the spider hosts of the spirit world, what he called Azlu.

After her task was complete, she brought the prospect of the favor right back up, "Alright now on to that favor I need from you, and don't bother changing the subject again. I let you get away with it last time, but now we're back on track since your arm no longer has the lacerations it had," she said with a slight grin.

Shadowfoot, however, wasn't having any of it, "I don't think so; you got your favor when you got the info on my eye. That should be more than adequate enough pay in exchange for the healing."

She looked at him, and without missing a beat said, "The info cover the 'costs' of the healing for your arm, however, the saving your life thing will cost a bit more." She spoke as if speaking to a child about why you shouldn't eat crayons.

Shadowfoot let out a groan, if this was anything like their last argument; he knew she was going to win by just wearing him down to the point where he just didn't give a damn, and would say yes just to shut her up.

"Fine," he finally said, with a sigh. "What is it that you need me to do?"

"I need you to watch over the child you tried to protect. She has no home or place to go. It's almost winter time and I don't think she should live on the streets. She can't live here and I can't keep her with me. Besides I'm sure you can take care of her," Lyndis says in mechanical voice.

"So, to make her safe, you're going to have her move in to an apartment with a werewolf. Am I getting this right?" Shadowfoot said sarcastically.

"Yes."

"And you're totally sure this is a good idea? I don't have my pack with me so the only person watching her is me, and, as you can see, I don't have a lot I can do by myself." Shadowfoot says in a downcast voice.

"At least you're willing to protect her even though you have no idea who or what she is. Who then, would be better than you?" the nurse says calmly.

Shadowfoot felt that he has had enough of this. How dare she try to force this girl on him? Normally he would take her, but he was a fucking werewolf and that would mean anyone close to him could die just because he got mad. Blood starts to pound in his ears, he feels his body's adrenaline spike, his heart monitor jumps up the scale quickly.

He snaps up from the bed in a rage, and slams his fist again the wall next to her, "So you think that just cause I tried to save her once that I'll let her live with me, who, if I might reiterate, is a fucking werewolf! " He picks up a chair, "I might kill her just cause she spilled an effing glass of milk!" He throws the chair against the wall, "Do you have any fucking clue how hard it is just to get up and go to work when you have anger management issues that border on homicidal rages!" He grabs the heart monitor and smashes it against the wall. "So please tell me exactly why I should put some poor girl -who will likely die just from just living under the same roof as me- into my house?"

"Because she has already died once." The nurse says quietly

Shadowfoot stopped dead in his rage, "What was that?"

"She has already died once."

"Then how is she alive? Even vampires never truly die when they get changed. That doesn't make any sense?" He walks around concerned, but with a light feeling of hope; he did like kids, that's why he took a teaching job after all, but he never wanted to get closer than teacher student. But maybe, just maybe, he could be closer to this one.

"I have no idea how she manage to cheat death, it seems to do with the ghost, spirit, uhh whatever the hell that thing is that she possesses. Either way, she needs someone she can trust. Since her healing, she hasn't let anyone near her, saying they're all out to hurt her, and that by healing her they just want to gain her trust, we're hoping you can help with that," the nurse says in a way that seems more like she's telling Shadowfoot what he is going to do instead of asking.

Shadowfoot mulls this info over before he decides, "Fine, I think I'm might be able to help, or at least give her a place to stay."

The nurse smiles a little, "I knew you would see things my way," then she laughs as she adds in, "again."

Shadowfoot sighs at the nurse and smiles, "Yeah, yeah, now can you go find me some pants, I think I'm done breaking things in here."

The nurse smiles, points to a small white bag, "I contacted one of the people on your phone when you came in under your ICE contacts, first person I got said he was your uncle and brought up a change of clothes. He also told me to tell you to call him when you wake up and that he'd try to get back up here before you berserked from boredom."

Shadowfoot nodded and the magical nurse stepped out and pulled some curtains shut so he can change in at least a semblance of privacy. He donned the clothes in his bag, just a pair of black jeans, a white t-shirt and a black button up, which he left unbutton. He pulled on his socks and sneakers, glad to see that they weren't bloodstained. He checked around for his weapons in the bag, finding both his fetish and combat knife were not in the bag. He nodded to himself figuring they probably held on to them so he wouldn't kill someone. After one final check to make sure he wasn't leaving anything, he left the hospital room.

He found himself in what seem like a normal hospital floor, with the exception that he could smell the werewolves, mages, changelings and other super naturals that were around the floor. His nurse grabbed him by the arm, led him to the checkout, where he did receive his weapons and left to find the little girl.

Fifteen minutes later, Shadowfoot found himself standing outside a room on the 5th floor of the building. He held the chart that listed the reasons for why the girl was here: minor cuts and abrasions, possible mental instability, twisted ankle. He nodded to himself; apparently she had gotten much better than he thought.

He looked at the top of the chart, her name was Chelsea, and she was only 8 years old. It had her labeled as a sin-eater, probably what they called whatever her kind was. She didn't smell dead, but he did smell some residual spirit energy coming from her. But other than that, she smelt like a normal mortal.

The two nurses next to him looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to go in and talk to the girl. He looked between the two of them and nodded as he walked into the room and prepared himself for the worst.

The girl turned around to look at him; she had a distant and lonely look about her. She was small, with long brown hair and amber colored eyes. In her arms she held a worn torn teddy bear protectively. She eyed him with a sense of wariness, a light glow coming from the bear, and he felt an urge to get away from her. He immediately shook his head, and squashed the feeling with a bit of anger, he had no reason to fear this girl and he refused to run when she needed his help.

"Why don't you run? Everyone else I do that to can't stand to be in the room with me. Can't you tell, I'm just a curse to people," says the little girl in a dead voice.

"I don't run cause I'm not afraid of being near you. You're not a curse to people," Shadowfoot says to her.

"People who get near me die. Teddy tells me it's those wolf things fault, they always seem to be there when bad things happen to me. Ever since the fire that one wolf thing caused I have been running." The little girl says softly.

Shadowfoot tries to keep the hurt from his eyes, he pulls up a chair and sits next to her, she seems to trust him, even though she doesn't know who he is, "But what about that one wolf thing that tried to save you, surely they can't be all bad."

"I guess not, but those others went and killed him, so he can't help anyone else. He shouldn't have helped me. I'm just a curse and I'm no good for nothing. He died saving nothing, a nobody." The girl says grimly.

Shadowfoot smiled a little, "Don't worry about him, he's fine. In fact, he says it's ok and he'd do it again in a heartbeat. He's already made a full recovery and will be leaving shortly."

The girl looked at him as though she was afraid to hope for the best, "And how would you know that?"

"Because he's talking to you right now," Shadowfoot said with a mischievous grin. Walking people into that lame pun never got old to him. What happened next caught him completely off guard.

The girl dove from the bed and wrapped her arms around him, she was sobbing into his arms. Shadowfoot looked around, seeing that he was by himself, besides the girl of course, he awkwardly returned the hug. He held her to him as she wept and sobbed.

"Why?" she finally asks in between sobs, "Why do you bother with me? I'm nothing special, and everybody who has ever gotten close to me has died. Other people turn me away cause I'm a curse, and yet you saved me without knowing who I am or anything. So why?" She continues to cry into his shirt.

"Why not?" Shadowfoot says simply, "I don't know what makes you so different from me or anyone else for that matter. Besides, I think I'm tough enough to stand up to the scary things that'll try and hurt you, and protect you from them. Even if I do get hurt, us, wolf like things, heal really really fast."

Chelsea looks up at him, "What do you mean by saying you'll try to protect me?"

He smiles down at her, "Well, if you'll let me, I would like to take you with me if you have no other place to go," he tells her in such a way that it makes it seem like he doesn't know anything about her, even though he knows she already doesn't have a home.

She gave a tiny squeal before she buried her face back in his shirt and cried some more, not knowing if that meant yes or no he asked her again if it was ok to live with him. She just nodded into his shirt as she kept on crying.

She looked back up at him with tears in her eyes, "But why take me in? You put yourself in danger by having me around."

"I'm just as much a danger to you as you are to me," Shadowfoot replies simply as he wipes the tears from her eyes. "That being said, there are a few ground rules we'll have to set, luckily, I have a guest bedroom you can use and we'll fix it up to your personal liking. Now why don't you let the nurses help you out, I've got to go fill out some paperwork to get you under my custody and get a couple of things squared away, and then we'll be good to go."

She nods again, and he smiles; he doesn't know how, but this little girl seemed to have wormed her way into his heart already, and he's okay with it. After a few minutes of holding the girl, he untangles himself from her and sets her back on the bed, he assures her he'll back and that the nurses will take care of her while he steps out for a bit.

After filling out the proper paperwork for the custody, and being assured for the tenth time that the hospital would take care of the rest, Shadowfoot headed out of the hospital and down the road. Lucky for him, Nashua is a small town and he isn't very far from his apartment, he sets off down the city streets, picking his speed up to a jog, then a light run. He started towards the local loci, not having his own territory, and renewed his stores of essence and immediately fixed his eye. After another short run to his house, he makes a few phone calls before straightening up the guest room and heading back to the hospital.

Half way back, Shadowfoot looked around. Whoever decided to follow him just now was doing a piss poor job of staying out of his sensory range. He quickly grew frustrated as he thought of anyone following him much less trying to hide that they were doing it. It made him suspicious, and hostile.

After making sure there was no one around he announced to no one in particular, "You can come out now." He waited a minute before a few people materialized from behind corners and doors. "There was that so hard," he said with a bit of sarcasm.

"Don't get smart with us you little piece of…" one of them started with before he was cut off.

"Enough, we did not come here for a fight, merely to talk," announced the obvious leader of the group. "Besides, it's ok if Shadowfoot wants to cause trouble for or fight other packs for us, makes it easier to take territory when we want if their all softened up."

Shadowfoot ran these thought through his mind. The leader of the pack before him was a good friend, mainly because he let him stay in their territory without charge, except that he had to keep his meddling in the affairs around there to a minimum. This was fine with Shadowfoot and the agreement was signed through blood. Shadowfoot kept his meddling down to just his sacred place and when innocents became involved. He generally left other packs alone, but he had a feeling that the pack leader of the Wolf Spears won't exactly see it his way.

"So we're here to talk so let's talk Icefang," Shadowfoot stated bluntly. "What do you want?"

"Me," the leader, Icefang, replied, "Well, I want another pack of cigs, a bottle of vodka, a good woman, and a car that works half the time. But we can't always have our wants, namely I want to know what you're doing actively defying one of the packs in the area."

"Cause I thought it was a good idea, what with the 5 of them I thought I might get an even fight out of the mix. After all, I only had a one innocent handicap, pretty sure I could take'em without her being there, but you know what I thought I'd give'em a chance," Shadowfoot replied vehemently. "Sarcasm aside, they were trying to kidnap an innocent girl. For what reason, I neither know nor care; when there is an innocent involved I don't think. I just act."

Icefang silenced any comments from his pack with a wave of a hand. "You know you shouldn't even get involved, what other packs do is none of our concern. However, what you do does concern us. We can't have you just attacking other packs every time they do something you don't like. But you're also right, innocents should not be involved. We will look into it."

Shadowfoot exhaled the breath he was unconsciously holding, "Thanks Icefang."

Shadowfoot made turn to head back to the hospital. He had gone two steps before he was spun around and pushed against a wall. Shadowfoot hand spiraled out one of his knives and it was immediately grabbed by Icefang's free hand. Icefang stared at Shadowfoot, his head no more than a few inches away.

"Listen carefully Shadowfoot, and listen well," Icefang said in a serious whisper. "There have whispers of horrors and of unspeakable things taking place the last few days. Spirits move about with a caution and a look over their shoulder, werewolf packs have been losing pack mates without any cause or reason, wounds have been springing up at an alarming rate. Even the Pure seem to be fighting with less vigor, as though they have been experiencing some form of the same thing we have been. Watch your back out there; because we don't know who else might be."

"Hmm, seems I might need to meddle a bit more," said Shadowfoot casually as he easily slid out of Icefang's grasp, "Cause it seems that this area has attracted a very bad problem, and it's been awhile since most people have had to deal with them."

Icefang stared at Shadowfoot with anger in his eyes, "And what would that be?"

"Why, my naïve friend," Shadowfoot said with a grimace, "It seems this area has attracted something that is spoken of only in whispers among elders, and I would advise you and your pack to watch your own backs. I believe that with all the things that you have told me, that there are Bale Hounds in the area." Shadowfoot spat out the word Bale Hounds, "And wherever there are hounds, calamity is sure to follow."

Icefang and his pack looked at Shadowfoot's retreating back with a look of complete shock, they then began to head off to their respective callings, but Icefang pursued the lone werewolf. Shadowfoot, himself, was lost in thought, tonight he would have to get some advice from the great one for what he should do on this matter. He'd also have to call Steelskin and the others for help; he definitely could not do this on his own.

"Hey, what can we do? Hounds are a problem that no one in this area has ever dealt with before, or at least not in a long time." Icefang asked.

"First off, be careful with any expansion to your pack; secondly, that's probably the reason they picked here. It's a soft target, and lastly ask your totem, or some spirit you know, for advice and info on Hounds. As of now, I have a lot to do, and little, if any, time to do it in." Shadowfoot said hurriedly, "Now if you can excuse me, I have to go pick up my newly adopted daughter from the hospital."

Icefang lagged behind and left the outsider to his own devices, Icefang knew that the other packs needed to be warned of this possible development and he needed to pass the info around fast, looks like another busy day for him. He left without another word.

Shadowfoot entered the hospital and immediately put all those thoughts on hold, he headed up to the 5th floor and went to the room where his new daughter was located. _Hmm, _He mused to himself, _I like the sound of that already._ As he walked up to the door he heard what seem to be the sounds of a war coming across the curtains.

"No shots!" the little girl yelled as the sound of things bursting into flames sounded outside the room.

"Now, now, let's try and be reasonable and not burn down the building," said a very haggard sounding nurse. "It'll be just a little prick and then you'll be free to go as soon as your guardian gets here."

"NO!" Chelsea screamed again, and the sound of more things bursting into flames sounded on the other side of the room. Deciding that he might need to help the situation a bit, Shadowfoot picked that moment to walk in the room.

Shadowfoot would have laughed at the scene before him as he entered the room, Chelsea was standing against the wall clutching the bear and yelling at the poor nurse who had a needle in one hand and was dodging around the room from small bursts of fire. He really would have laughed, had his hand and arm not suddenly felt like they were on fire. Looking at it, he could see scorch marks running from his knuckles to his elbow, and his skin looked like it had at least a majority 2nd degree burns.

"Oh no," Chelsea cried and she ran over to the wounded wolf and immediately hugged him, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she repeated over and over and over again, looking up at him with tears in his eyes. "Please don't hate me, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Shadowfoot looked at the minor injury, and nearly laughed at how little damage he actually had, "Not a problem little one," he says to the girl with a smile. "Watch this," he then said as he angled the arm for her to see better. After exerting some of his essence and directing it towards healing his wounds, in a matter of moments the burnt and scorched skin looked completely normal.

Chelsea gasped as she watched, "How did you do that?" she asked with a shocked look on her face.

"I told you, we wolf like things heal really fast," he said with a grin. "Now you know I gotta punish you right?"

She looked up at him with a scared look, "What are you going to make me do?"

He looked at her face, and gave an evil grin. He picked her up and held her. After making sure he had her and she couldn't escape he said, "Your gonna have to take the shot now."

"Noooooo," she cried as she tried to escape.

"Shh, it's ok I'll hold you the whole time and I promise I'll get you a treat afterwards," he whispered gently to the scared girl.

"Promise?" she said.

"Promise," he replied.

She nodded to him, and he nodded to the nurse, he then sat down on the patient's bed and held the girl to him, angling one of the arms out so the nurse could give the shot. A small shot and a swab and band aid later, the nurse retreated from the room, glad her task was complete.

"See, it wasn't that bad," Shadowfoot said as they exited the hospital. He had decided to pick up the folder with all the papers he needed on Chelsea at a later date, figuring he'd let the girl live in on a trail bases for the moment. The girl had virtually nothing but the clothes on her back and the teddy bear. He'd have to remedy that tomorrow. Right now, he'd get her a treat and take her home.

"Yes it was," the Chelsea replied with a pained look on her face, "Besides, you wouldn't know since you weren't the one getting the shot."

Shadowfoot chuckled, and took her to a little pie shop nearby. He bought a small chocolate pie and the two wayward supernaturals split it amongst themselves, with Chelsea obviously getting the bigger piece. Chat amongst the two was mild, mostly asking about each other's past, their likes and dislikes. Shadowfoot let Chelsea do most of the talking, knowing that it would help the little girl to open up to him if he listened more than talked, himself.

As the two headed back towards the apartment, they crossed the area where Shadowfoot had the conversation with the Wolf Spears pack. A frown crossed his face, as he passed the area, he should call Steelskin soon, like now. The look was not concealed from his little girl, unfortunately.

"What's wrong Papa Shadow?" the girl said; since he told her his real name he thought she'd just call him by that name. However, Chelsea decided that 'Papa Shadow' was a good middle ground.

"Nothing, just remembered a phone call I have to make," Shadowfoot replied. _And somehow find a way to keep you safe, _he thought to himself, _Maybe Uncle Will will help out when things get too hairy._

"Okay," said the oblivious little girl, she started humming to herself as Shadowfoot pulled out his phone.

Shadowfoot found Steelskin's number and called it, after a few rings he gets an answer from a very angry sounding werewolf, "This better be good Shadowfoot, I got work in about 20 minutes."

"It's nice to hear from you too, Steelskin," Shadowfoot replied nonchalantly. "Listen I've got a big problem up here, I'm going to need the packs help."

"Dude, there isn't a problem up there you shouldn't be able to take care of, or at least avoid," replied the aggravated pack mate.

"Steelskin," Shadowfoot said seriously, "They have hounds up here, and they're starting to make their move."

Silence answered him for the longest time, he could still hear Steelskin on the other end of the phone, but the wolf seemed to be at a loss. Finally, he replied, "Dude the only ones who can help you right now are me and Windwatcher. Everyone else is busy: Bandit and Mudbath are in Colorado checking up on something, and Righteous Fury has been up to his neck in political work."

_Damn, _Shadowfoot thought to himself, _well two are better than none. _ "Dude, if you guys can get up here any help is better than none," Shadowfoot said to his friend.

"We'll definitely be there," said Steelskin with a hint of excitement in his voice. "You might live away from us, but you're still our pack mate. We won't leave you alone to die."

"Thanks dude, I'm glad I can count on–" Shadowfoot started before he cut himself off. Something was wrong, very wrong. He felt something dangerous and only a short distance away. He immediately looked around, he didn't what but something wished harm on him and his cub.

"Shadowfoot, what the hell's going on?" he heard Steelskin call, but he ignored it in order to concentrate on his enhanced senses. Smells became sharper, sounds louder and more precise, sights more clear and define; his sense of touch became very acute. He smelled taint, he could hear the sound of the hound not far, it was almost on top of him. A second later he could see the thing come out from around the corner.

Suddenly Chelsea grabbed his arm and hid behind him, shaking. "That's the one that burned down my parent's house," she choked out from behind her tears.

Rage pounded in his ears, he could feel it begging for release. He fought the feeling down. Suddenly the tainted wolf called out to him, "Well look what we have here, a little pup and his little dead toy. My, my, whatever shall I do?" The hound taunted him, and he could feel himself breaking from the rage. He fought down the feeling with renewed force; he would need his wits not his rage to win this fight.

"I've got to go Steelskin, I've got my hands full," Shadowfoot said, knowing full well Steelskin heard everything the Bale Hound had said. But a phone call during a fight was a bad idea, and he needed his hands free to fight this thing.

"Go ahead and do what you need to do man," Steelskin replied from the other end of the line. "But if you die, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"Alright," was the last thing he said before he hung up the phone. He handed it to Chelsea, and told her to run back to the hospital.

"No," she said to him in a scared voice. "If I run now, you'll die."

Shadowfoot didn't have time to argue, the hound was watching them with amusement, but he could feel the bloodlust coming of the thing, and he knew it was a matter of moments before it would attack. "Look we don't have time for this, get in the cover of that building over there and stay the hell out of the way," he said harshly. He looked down at the girl as she clutched onto the cell phone with a look of horror on her face, "Look I can't fight at my fullest with you here, cause I've got to watch out for you and fight him. I promise I'll come back alive," he said in the end with a smile on his face as he ruffled her hair.

"You better," she said and gave him one more concerned/scared look before she went into the nearest building for cover.

With her out of the way he turned back to his foe and started walking slowly across, he pulled out his fetish, a long wooden hand carved knife, and pushed essence into. He then pricked his finger with it and spread blood across it while pushing more essence into it. His nostrils was immediately assailed by the smell of silver.

He then called out to the hound, "Sorry to keep you waiting, but I had to make sure that it was a fair fight, after all two on one is so unfair."

The hound gave a loud twisted laugh, "Got a smart mouth der, don'tcha. Even in a three on one you couldn't beat me," he gave a twisted grin that matched his twisted laugh as he pulled out a twin set of revolvers. "Let's see long ya last on yer own."

Shadowfoot immediately activated one of his gifts, and slid across the gauntlet till he was right behind the fallen werewolf. He followed up the move with a stab to the back with his silver knife and pulled out his combat knife and sliced it across his enemies back.

His enemy countered with by diving forward and turning around bring both guns to bear. Shadowfoot watched the two barrels closely and immediately dodged out of the path of the bullets, he could feel the bullets breeze by him but he made sure to keep his eyes on the barrels to watch for the bullets trajectory, he cut the distance down and as soon as he was close enough, he stabbed one of the man's hands with the fetish.

The man deflected the knife with one of his guns, but the edge would be Shadowfoot's in close combat and he pressed the advantage. Unfortunately, the advantage didn't stay his and he immediately watched as his foe grew to his Dalu (more human, less wolf) form, with the strength increase, the hound turned the advantage back on Shadowfoot and kicked him in the chest, knocking him a good twenty feet away. He followed that up with two bullets, knocking the dazed Shadowfoot of his feet and onto the ground.

Shadowfoot coughed out some blood, he could feel the regeneration struggling to keep up with injuries inflicted upon him. Hell, what he would have given to fight that other pack of werewolves again. As he struggled to his feet he heard the hound calling out to him, taunting him.

"Come on, get back up ye damned pup," the vile thing called out to him. "Come on, it's been awhile since I've had this much fun on a single wolf. Gotta give ye credit though, at least ye don't play around. Many of yer kind don't bother with silver, when it'd be the one thing that could save ya."

Shadowfoot struggle to stand back up, the two bullets had slammed into his left shoulder and the second has grazed his chest on the right side. They weren't silver, thankfully, but he had a killer headache for some reason. He struggled to stand as the wounds continue to leak blood. He took a deep breath and changed into his own Dalu form.

"That's the spirit," remarked his tainted foe, "Now come on, you got about 5 seconds before I put a couple more bullets in ya for takin' too long."

Shadowfoot threw his combat knife and fetish at the enemy; as he did that slid across the gauntlet till he was behind his enemy, his hands immediately taking on the look of his Gauru (werewolf) forms claws which he slashed right across his foes back. He followed it up by springing over the hound and stabbing down as he crossed back to the front of him. When the twin guns came up he immediately grabbed them, and tried to twist them from his hands.

He was rewarded with two twin shot hitting his leg and chest, but he succeeded in removing the guns from his opponent's hands. He threw them out the way and dove back, hoping to buy a moment of respite.

His wounds ache, his wounds still bled, his mind was reeling from a headache, and he was pretty sure a couple of ribs were broken. All-in-all he was in bad shape, but he was still alive, and he could still fight. He flooded his wounds with as much essence as he could spare to allow him a little more length to his life should the fight continue.

Unfortunately, his foe had more tricks up his sleeve; he pulled the two knives out of him and threw them to Shadowfoot's feet. "Pick those up yer going to need them," said the fallen werewolf, "Ye've got about 15 seconds 'fore I stop holdin' back and finish ya off."

Knowing full well that he would need silver to finish this, Shadowfoot changed his right hand back to Dalu and sheathes his combat knife. He picked up his fetish and took on a semi-defensive stance and waited for the monster to make his move.

The monster's grin becomes feral, than he lets out a loud howl as he changed into a fully formed Gauru form. His muscles grew and ripped apart most of his clothing, fur and fangs grew from his wolf like face, claws grew and sharpened, before Shadowfoot stood a monument to the very picture of rage itself, it let loose one last howl before throwing himself at the smaller opponent.

Not bothering to waste time, Shadowfoot activated one of his last gifts, a trick he learned from one of his pack mates and literally ran up the nearest wall; if there was one thing Shadowfoot had on his side, it was speed.

The tainted werewolf gave chase, as he hit the wall he use his claws to help scale up the wall. Shadowfoot quickly changed his footing on the next window sill and gave himself a jump straight up he expanded the muscles in his arms, pulling the last of his essence away from his eye to do so. He brought the knife over his hand, as gravity took a hold of him; he fell back towards the earth, bringing the dagger down with all his strength, to bear right at his foe.

He slammed into the hound with a heavy blow, the dagger piercing the things skin and changing the course from up to down. The two combatants fell a good one story, with Shadowfoot on top and slammed into the ground, the dagger and fall doing severe damage to the hound's body.

However the thing seemed to be too stubborn to die, it swiped at Shadowfoot knocking him clean across the street and into the other wall. It slowly rose to its feet and let out another horrid howl, and raced across at his prone prey.

Shadowfoot coughed out another mouthful of blood, he could feel his body take the hit and it nearly killed him. One of his shoulders was nearly shattered and his ribs where broken and splintered, his breathing was haggard, and he thought one of his lungs had been punctured. He tried to rise to his feet but he knew that the thing was coming at him to finish the job.

The thing was upon him in seconds as soon as he was in range Shadowfoot disappeared appearing about 40 ft. away in a heap, he stood up and turned to face the wolf as he turned on his new location, this would be it. He was out of tricks and he was out of essence, his eye started to change, but he barely felt it. Only seeing things through two different sights, but in the end all he saw was the Bale Hound barreling down on him.

"Leave my Papa ALONE!" screamed Chelsea as she raced from one of the buildings into the fight.

To Shadowfoot everything seem to take place in slow motion, the tainted werewolf that was barreling towards him suddenly burst into flames, it howled in pain and turned to swipe at the little girl. Its claws cleaved upward cutting across her chest, neck, and face. The girl landed in a pile a few feet away, unmoving.

"NO!" Shadowfoot screamed and raced at the tainted wolf, pain forgotten. He didn't fight the rage; hell, he embraced it. His muscles and fur exploded as he dove at the wolf, his pain and wounds vanished only to be replaced with rage and fangs, his howl dwarfed the hounds own. He barreled into and the two rolled around until they came to a stop. Shadowfoot stood up and brought his bare fist down on his opponent's skull. Again and again he pounded into his enemy's head, using his fists as a twin pair of hammers. Blood and brain matter leaked until the werewolf finally stopped struggling.

Shadowfoot only stopped because his worry for his cub outweighed the want to crush his opponent. He got up and moved towards the girl, changing to his Hishu (Human) form as he did it. His clothes were ripped and torn, he had won the fight, and his pain was minimum thanks to his healing, but he still was in bad shape.

He came up to his cub and collapsed next to her; he checked her wounds and to his horror, found that she was still conscious. The wounds were ragged, but the ones on her chest and face were slightly negligible, negligible in that they weren't very deep and did not need immediate attention. The wound on her neck however had cut nearly clean across, and the bleeding wouldn't stop.

He immediately ripped off his shirt and wrapped it around her neck, he than pooled some blood and pulled essence from his very own skin to power some healing in the blood and cover the next in the essence filled blood. They congealed and the healing essence at least stopped the blood, the girl gagged and coughed as blood flowed over her lips.

"Sweetie, I know this is going hard but you're going to have to hold on to me ok?" Shadowfoot gasped out. The girl gave the slightest of nods, her eyes fluttering to stay open.

He picked her up on his back and changed in to his Urshul (mostly wolf, part human) form. With the little girl clutching lightly onto his back he immediately took off as fast as he could. The girl struggled to hold on, but hold she did.

He barreled into the hospital, not bothering to change and ran right into the ER room. He could hear the faint sound of something giving chase but he cared not, he only cared about his cub and her survival.

As soon as he made it to the counter, he changed back into his human form and picked the girl up. He didn't even know what to do, the girl was almost out her eyes struggling to stay open, all he could do was look at the nurse and utter one word…

"Help."

* * *

A/N:  
The wait is finally over, I had more work and family related incidents than I even want to think about, but I finally manage to get it done. Anyways, Shadowfoot and Chelsea both make it, I was planning to kill Chelsea but the more I wrote about her the more I like her so she's an unexpected part of the story now. Palepaw makes her appearance known later, their meeting comes on her memories, oh will that be fun. XD

Anyways, I'm thinking I might start up a forum that will give a summary of each character with each passing chapter. Thoughts, suggestions, reviews, all welcome. Trolling, bashing, and any other bothersome thing you can think of, take them and gtfo. :)


End file.
